(I've got a plan) I've got an atlas in my hands
by melancholicmermaid
Summary: A KC drabble written for the prompt: Map/Rejection/School


Caroline stuck her tongue out in concentration while carefully gluing the back of a shiny photo of Terabithia. "There," she muttered to herself, satisfied as she strategically placed the cut-out on her map.

She looked around the classroom assessing the projects of her classmates before beaming with confidence that hers was certainly far superior. Elena's silly paperdoll wasn't even creative, she thought, and then turned her attention to the new student who sat next to her. She peered anxiously at his sketch which he seemed adamant to hide from everyone.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the way he sat hunched over his paper and then slowly reached out with her pencil and poked him in the neck with it.

"Ow," Klaus said, turning in surprise and looking at the golden-haired girl who had just jabbed him for no apparent reason. He caught her trying to peek at his drawing so he hastily turned it over.

"What did you do that for?" he asked.

"That's a very pretty pony you have there," she exclaimed, ignoring his question. She didn't want to be beat at the art project competition by some random new boy who even spoke funny.

"It's a horse," he said, incredulously shaking his head at the pesky blonde.

"Well, whatever," she rolled her eyes, "it's really pretty. I think you might win."

"That would be good." Maybe then Mikael would finally praise him, he thought happily, remembering his father's reaction towards Finn when he had walked home with a trophy.

"Well, I suppose," the girl said, her eyes downcast and gloomy.

"What have you got there?" he turned to take a closer look at her work.

"It's a scrap book but with maps instead of ordinary pages, and I am sticking the photos of all the places I plan on visiting someday."

He curiously looked down at her maps filled with glossy pictures of places with names he doesn't really recognize.

"Hey, Fairytopia isn't a place. And I am certain neither is Beauxbatons Academy!"

She blushed deeply and snatched the scrapbook away from him. "Where do the fairies reside then?" she asked him haughtily.

He just stared at her gobsmacked. She couldn't be real.

'What's your name?"

"Caroline."

He waited in silence for a while. "Aren't you gonna ask me mine?" he finally chimed in.

"You are the new kid with the funny speech," she replied, without missing a beat. "I don't need to know your name."

"Hey! It's not funny. I moved from London so I have an accent."

She suddenly stopped looking sullen and her eyes lit up as she moved closer to him. "London? Like Platform Nine and a Three-Quarters?!"

He opened his mouth to correct her before letting it slide. He liked how her face was gleaming with excitement. It was infectious and he found his mood lifting along with hers. He spoke to her about London and humored her with some mentions of Diagon Alley.

"It sounds so wonderful. I have never really been anywhere you know," she whispered trying to sound casual but he noticed the way her face fell and she fidgeted around with her maps.

"I could take you," he said, without even thinking about it.

She laughed at that, her eyes crinkling around the corners. "Would you now? Where'd we go?"

"Anywhere you want. London? Paris? Tokyo?"

"Mmmm, that sounds like fun but I would have to decline. I, uhm, my daddy travels a lot and he has promised me he'd take me along someday. I rarely see him so- I mean, only because he is so busy, obviously-but yeah, I thought maybe if I won this project he would be pleased and come see me soon."

"Oh," he said, suddenly understanding why she seemed so upset earlier.

"But it's okay! You deserve to win. Maybe I can try harder next time. In fact, here, you can have my color pencils if we want. To shade into your drawing."

"Thanks," he said gratefully accepting the offering.

They continued working in silence for a while till the bell rang and then a flurry of commotion took over the room as everyone moved to the front placing their projects on the teacher's desk. He spotted Caroline skip over and delicately place her book on the table before tenderly running her fingers through the maps.

He stared at her for a while and then in a fit of madness slipped his sketch inside his bag and moved out of the classroom. He didn't really need to participate….

* * *

The next morning he entered the classroom and immediately found himself being squeezed to death by a little blonde hurricane. A jumping Caroline enveloped him in a tight hug. "I won!" she squealed, her golden ringlets bouncing around everywhere. "Your name wasn't in the top 3 at all. Weird, huh? Maybe Mrs Slater hates ponies."

"Horses," he corrected her before quickly changing the subject. "Hey, I made you something," he said reaching into his bag and taking out a scroll and handing it to her. "I didn't see it on your map yesterday but I figured you'd be-"

"Oh my God, I love it! It's beautiful."

Caroline gazed down at the stunning sketch of an open wardrobe revealing the wintry land of Narnia. She read the words he had scrawled at the bottom right:

_ Sometimes the greatest adventures lurk right across a door. – Klaus_

"Klaus," she said letting the name roll around on her tongue.

"That's a funny name."

"Well, there's a funny story behind it. I could tell you all about it. At lunch break," he said eagerly.

"Seriously?! I only eat with my friends. Just because you paint me a picture doesn't mean you win friendship privileges. Those need to be earned," she proclaimed and walked away with her nose up in the air.

But Klaus couldn't help but smile as he watched her go. "I'll take that as a challenge," he called after her.

* * *

Review?


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